Jackson’s Roderick Hamilton fires a 3-pointer in a second-period outburst that gave the defending state champions the lead in what became a 54-34 win over Orange Beach. Hamilton made five 3-pointers in the Class 4A South Regional final at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
Jackson coach Anthony Hayes hugs guard Roderick Hamilton after the Aggies’ win Tuesday night. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
Jackson’s Keeyun Chapman dunks on a baseline drive in the third period against Orange Beach Tuesday night. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
MONTGOMERY — Just when it seemed Jackson was being dragged into a minefield and a slow tempo it doesn’t like, Roderick Hamilton airlifted the Aggies out of early trouble Tuesday night and sent them back to Birmingham to pursue a second straight state championship.
Hamilton made four 3-pointers from the corner pocket in the second period after Jackson had fallen behind by eight points and went on to score 18 points to lead the No. 7-ranked Aggies to a 54-34 win over Orange Beach in the Class 4A South Regional finals at Garrett Coliseum.
After its 14th straight win, Jackson (21-4) will play No. 9 Brooks (25-9) in the state tournament semifinals on Feb. 25 at 4:30 p.m. at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.
Hamilton, who was named the regional MVP, had taken 201 three-pointers coming into the game but none of them were as consequential as the ones he made in the second period to get the Aggies out of their early doldrums caused by the Makos’ assortment of zone defenses and their patient strategy.
“We knew that could be the advantage for Orange Beach, to slow the pace,” Jackson coach Anthony Hayes said. “They play a real aggressive zone and we knew that coming in. So, we just wanted to withstand the punch from a well-coached team. That’s a great ballclub with some great young players. But we were able to speed the pace up and that’s to our favor.”
Hamilton’s four 3-pointers were at the core of an 18-3 Aggies run that helped them take command.
“I just kept sitting in the middle of their zone and looking for the weak points and every time I got the ball, I just shot it,” said the 6-2 junior guard who made 5 of 8 three-pointers in all.
Orange Beach (17-13) — which had won eight straight games on the way to setting a school record for wins and reaching the regional finals for the first time — tried to slow the pace and spread the floor to stretch Jackson’s defense. The Makos built a 10-2 lead but Hamilton made his first three-pointer from the corner after point guard Joseph Taylor drove inside and passed it back out.
“It only takes one,” Hamilton said. “After that first one, I’m on. I’ve got my shot after that. Coach was saying to calm down and play our game. We knew we’d come back and win.”
Hamilton followed with three more corner threes and had another rattle in and out of the basket as Jackson surged to a 20-13 halftime lead.
“For whatever reason, people feel we can’t shoot the ball,” Hayes said. “But if you really watch it, that kid shoots the ball that way multiple nights. He hit seven threes in a game. For him to do it on this stage, I’m happy for him. That’s who Roderick Hamilton is.”
And that stony resolve to win, Orange Beach coach Chris Laatsch said, is what Jackson has.
“You’re gonna have to go beat them,” he said. “They’re not gonna beat themselves. Coach Hayes does an unbelievable job. They’ve got great players and they play really well together. They have such a competitive nature, they’re hard to beat.”
Laatsch said he had to make some tough decisions defensively.
“They’re a tough cover because we knew that (Hamilton) could really shoot it,” Laatsch said. “But our goal was to try to protect the paint with (Keeyun Chapman) and (Landon Duckworth), the bigs inside, and the drives with (Taylor). If we’re going to give up something, let’s give up the three first. And then if he hits, we’ve got to adjust. He did and we tried to adjust and that starts stretching us and then it starts opening up the gaps.”
Jackson went on to shoot 56% from the field, with Chapman adding 12 points and Taylor 11.
Chapman helped extend the Aggies’ run to 26-5 with three straight inside baskets to open the third period, including a slam dunk in traffic.
“We know it’s a game of runs,” Hayes said, “so we try to get the most out of ours … 10-2 in the first quarter is not a lot in basketball. We just wanted to stay poised and then when our run came, take advantage of it.”
Not only did Jackson do that, it didn’t allow the Makos to make a field goal in the last five minutes of the game.
“They’re the defending state champs for a reason,” Laatsch said. “They’ve won football and basketball back-to-back. We had to control the tempo. We wanted to make them guard, we were able to be multiple in our defenses and try to keep them off balance. I thought we did. Then a couple plays didn’t go our way. And then when we got behind and had to chase, that’s not our strength.”
The Aggies are playing well at the right time but Hayes doesn’t want his players to assume another Blue Map will go into the school’s trophy case.
“To be honest, we haven’t looked past this game,” he said. “We got it on our board: ‘Win One.’ That’s the mentality. This was that win one. We’ll take a trip back to Jackson and then we’ll look at that next opponent and that’ll be the focus for the win one, the next one. But, hey, we’re excited to still be playing basketball this time of the year. We’ve got a chance to go and defend what we did last year. We’re just happy for the community, happy for the school and I’m happy for those young guys in that locker room.”
Lee Steele led Orange Beach with 12 points.
